The present invention is a Divisional of and claims priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/896,834, filed Jul. 22, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,656,162, which is a Continuation of and claims priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/441,271, filed May 19, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,557,586, which is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/703,270, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,566,883, which claims priority to Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/163,013, filed Nov. 1, 1999 and entitled AUTOMOTIVE BATTERY CHARGING SYSTEM TESTER, application Ser. No. 10/896,834 is also a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/271,342, filed Oct. 15, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,850,037, which is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/960,117, filed Sep. 20, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,165, which is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/564,740, filed May 4, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,762, which claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/132,622, filed May 5, 1999, and provisional Ser. No. 60/165,208, filed Nov. 12, 1999, and provisional Ser. No. 60/175,762, filed Jan. 12, 2000, and is also a Continuation-In-Part of patent application Ser. No. 08/962,754, filed Nov. 3, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,098, application Ser. No. 10/271,342 is also a Continuation-In-Part of patent application Ser. No. 10/046,659, filed Oct. 29, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,909,287, which is a Divisional of patent application Ser. No. 09/564,740, filed May 4, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,762, which claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/132,622, filed May 5, 1999, and provisional Ser. No. 60/165,208, filed Nov. 12, 1999, and provisional Ser. No. 60,175,762, filed Jan. 12, 2000, application Ser. No. 10/046,659 is also a Continuation-In-Part of patent application Ser. No. 09/575,627, filed May 22, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,313,608, which is a Continuation-In-Part of patent application Ser. No. 08/962,754, filed Nov. 3, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,098; application Ser. No. 10/896,834 is also a Continuation-In-Part of patent application Ser. No. 10/791,141, filed Mar. 2, 2004, which is a Continuation-In-Part of application Ser. No. 10/098,741, filed Mar. 14, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,885,195 which is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/575,629, filed May 22, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,445,158, which is a Continuation-In-Part of Ser. No. 09/293,020, filed Apr. 16, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,351,102; application Ser. No. 09/575,629 is also a Continuation-In-Part of Ser. No. 09/426,302, filed Oct. 25, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,245; which is a Divisional of Ser. No. 08/681,730, filed Jul. 29, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,976, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to storage batteries. More specifically, the present invention relates to a battery system tester for testing storage batteries.
Many attempts have been made to test storage batteries. One technique which has been pioneered by Dr. Keith S. Champlin and Midtronics, Inc. of Burr Ridge, Ill. relates to measuring the conductance of batteries to determine their condition. This technique is described in a number of U.S. patents, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,911, issued Mar. 25, 1975, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE; U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,708, issued Sep. 30, 1975, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE; U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,768, issued Mar. 28, 1989, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE; U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,170, issued Apr. 25, 1989, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE WITH AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE SCALING; U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,038, issued Nov. 14, 1989, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE WITH AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE SCALING TO DETERMINE DYNAMIC CONDUCTANCE; U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,416, issued Mar. 27, 1990, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE WITH STATE-OF-CHARGE COMPENSATION; U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,269, issued Aug. 18, 1992, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC TESTER FOR ASSESSING BATTERY/CELL CAPACITY; U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,380, issued Aug. 30, 1994, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPRESSING TIME VARYING SIGNALS IN BATTERIES UNDERGOING CHARGING OR DISCHARGING; U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,136, issued Nov. 5, 1996, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH AUTOMATIC COMPENSATION FOR LOW STATE-OF-CHARGE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,355, issued Nov. 12, 1996, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTION AND CONTROL OF THERMAL RUNAWAY IN A BATTERY UNDER CHARGE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,728, issued Dec. 17, 1996, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH AUTOMATIC COMPENSATION FOR LOW STATE-OF-CHARGE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,093, issued Jan. 7, 1997, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE LOOSE TERMINAL CONNECTION DETECTION VIA A COMPARISON CIRCUIT; U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,098, issued Jan. 28, 1997, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH VERY HIGH NOISE IMMUNITY; U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,192, issued May 26, 1998, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING A BAD CELL IN A STORAGE BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,756, issued Oct. 13, 1998, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH TAILORED COMPENSATION FOR LOW STATE-OF-CHARGE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,435, issued Nov. 3, 1998, entitled BATTERY TESTER FOR JIS STANDARD; U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,605, issued Jun. 22, 1999, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,829, issued Aug. 31, 1999, entitled MIDPOINT BATTERY MONITORING; U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,238, issued Dec. 14, 1999, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING COMPLEX IMPEDANCE OF CELLS AND BATTERIES; U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,777, issued Mar. 14, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING BATTERY PROPERTIES FROM COMPLEX IMPEDANCE/ADMITTANCE; U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,976, issued Apr. 18, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUDITING A BATTERY TEST; U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,098, issued Jun. 27, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGING A BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,245, issued Jul. 18, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUDITING A BATTERY TEST; U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,167, issued Aug. 15, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGING A BATTERY; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,269, issued Oct. 24, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTRONICALLY EVALUATING THE INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OF AN ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL OR BATTERY.
With the advent of accurate battery testing, it has become apparent that in some instances the battery testing technique may not be appropriate for the particular purpose of the battery or configuration of multiple batteries.